Cooper is a Pit Bull mix available for adoption through the Brookhaven Animal Shelter.

Sometimes it seems like as much as 90 percent of the dogs at my local animal shelter are Pit Bulls. Unfortunately this stigmatized breed is often the last to be adopted because of the bad publicity they get.

The Brookhaven Animal Shelter in New York has been overwhelmed with Pit Bulls in recent years. Currently they have 140 available for adoption, far more than they can realistically adopt out.

I think it’s great that Brookhaven is dedicating money to getting Pit Bulls out of their shelter, though in some ways they’re just shifting the dogs around. Certainly moving Pit Bulls to new shelters or rescue groups may lead to their adoption, but the Brookhaven Bully Alliance program doesn’t get at the root of the problem—improving the Pit Bull’s reputation and promoting responsible ownership. Instead, I’d love to see the money go towards positive Pit Bull PR, responsible ownership education, or a crackdown on dog fighting.

What do you think would help Brookhaven's Pit Bull overpopulation problem?